A lot of things leave me speechless in this world, most pertaining to women and women's rights.
No surprise there.
I was surprised, however, to find that according to a midwife, pain during childbirth is a GREAT thing. In fact, Dr. Denis Walsh takes on a 'no pain, no gain' attitude.
Let me clarify.
According to him, epidurals are the big bad wolf -- not for a decent reason, but because the pain of childbirth prepares women for the responsibilities of motherhood.
"A large number of women want to avoid pain, but more should be prepared to withstand it," Walsh said.
"Pain in labour is a purposeful, useful thing which has a number of benefits, such as preparing a mother for the responsibility of nurturing a newborn baby."
Yeah. Right.
He also stated that "e]merging evidence [shows] that normal labor and birth primes the bonding areas of a mother’s brain better than caesarean or pain-free birth.”
I'd have thought the nine months of being in the womb would've done the bonding trick, but hey. What do I know? I'm just a woman with a simple lady brain.
Sarcasm aside, I think this dude, while maybe (emphasis on 'maybe') meaning well, is a little touched in his gentleman brain. I mean, he's completely underestimating the pain of labor. Not only that, but there are so many things that can go wrong during childbirth --billions of women have died throughout history from giving birth, after all, and too many still encounter life threatening problems. I realize that there are some major problems associated with epidurals, but those and other pain relief are a godsend, if you ask me. On top of that, what about the women who can't have a normal birth, or something goes wrong during the birth? For example, a C Section. How does 'no pain, no gain' work with that?
My opinion: normality is relative, even in childbirth. You have to go with what works, and no one thing works. Whenever someone, like Dr. Walsh, says something like this, I worry that women will be intimidated and pressured to be 'normal'. I especially hate that he basically stated you'd be a bad mom (or at least have a bad bonding exeperience with your baby) if you wanted pain relief.
You can read more about this guy and epidurals here, here and here.
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When Dr. Walsh gets a kidney stone, he shouldn't get pain medicine, either. This will prepare him and make him a more responsible when he urinater. Also, he can bond with his urethra.
I'm not a mother, but from what I've heard, epidurals (when wanted) can keep mothers awake and alert (and less tired) through the birthing process. Therefore, they will be more ready to bond and nurse the new baby sooner after birth.
In other words, Dr. Walsh is full of shit.
This is interesting (and extreamly offensive), because the church actually teaches that pain in childbirth is related to the "sin in the garden", and is punishment for Eves' sin. Wouldnt that mean that he is saying a baby is punishment? I hope this man is not married, and if he is I feel so sorry for his wife.
Herm...when I was pregnant, it was other women (mothers and midwives) who pressured me to have a "natural birth", to exclusively breastfeed, to eschew doctors and medicine. When I had my pain-free C Section, a woman asked me if I felt like I was cheated "as a woman" because it wasn't vaginal. The answer is no.
If you want to go all-natural, or if you want to go the modern way, the most feminist thing to do (for me) is to allow the mother a choice without judgement. There's so much weird sniping going on when women are pregnant or new mothers.
Here's a tip from this mom: 5 years from now, NONE of this stuff will matter. How the baby was born, whether you used this or that, even whether you bottlefed or breastfed or whatever else society makes you agonize about; the child will be fine. If you are happy and do what's best for your family, your child will be happy.
When I was in tenth grade my health teacher told the class that contractions were basically really intense cramps. Now I've already had some pretty intense cramps by 16, so I have known since then that if I ever deliver a child out of my vagina, that I would be accepting any and all drugs that would make me more comfortable. Nonetheless, my mother insists that there's no need for drugs during birth. However, she is also one to complain when other women use formula for their babies instead of breastfeeding.
Hmm. This is a complicated issue, and I'm not entirely sure what this guy is trying to say. If it's just that being in pain will make a woman bond with her kid, then f*** him and that's ridiculous. There are plenty of ways to bond, and plenty of ways to birth, and all are fine. On the other hand, some women (and some medical experts) do think that epidurals can slow down a pregnancy and lead to more pain and complications later. Also, depending on where the epidural is placed it can make you feel no pain but only pressure- but in a different placement can make you feel totally numb, absolutely nothing, below where the needle goes in. In the latter cases it can be really hard to be involved in the birth- you don't know when to push, and the woman might feel dismbodied and uncomfortable. In cases like this, some degree of pain from contractions might be more desirable. And even further, some women report not feeling contractions as pain. Now, I personally am not one of those women- I felt a shitton of pain, lasted a long time without the epidural but ended up getting it later on in the labor, felt pressure and knew when to push, and everything was peachy for me. But I just wanted to put it out there that there are actually a few feminist reasons why you might not want an epidural.
I agree with the bulk of what you're saying, that every woman decides for herself whether or not she wants an epidural and why.
However, when women get epidurals that numb them completely, they are still hooked up to machines that can tell them when they are having a contraction so that they know when to push. They're not flying blind if they're doing this in a hospital with standard birthing equipment.
A friend of mine had a totally numbing epidural that sounded weird and scary. However, it's what saved her life during the birth (she was having major blood pressure issues as a result of the pain of the contractions). But again, I agree with much of what you're saying.
It truly is a unique experience. During my C Section, I was numb from the breasts down. But I could still move everything. I could feel the surgeons working on me, tugging and pulling, just no pain. You think you'll be totally dead or pins-and-needly like when your leg falls asleep, but it's not how it is. It's...weird.
And that was just my experience. I'm sure there are a variety of experiences, as varied as the women having them.
True, you do have some guidance. Also, you don't physically need to know when you're having contractions- a healthy baby will come out on its own if you don't push. And I'm glad it saved your friend, as I'm sure it's done for plenty of other women. I just meant that some women who are healthy and having a safe pregnancy might have a strong preference not to rely on machines. Again, I support women's choices around birth, and not one form over another.
Well my mother had epidurals, and my brother and she handled the "pain" of motherhood juuust fine.
My mother also bottle fed me (breast feeding caused her tremendous pain!) and I've done pretty well so far. I hate when people hark on others for choosing to bottle feed, that it's not natural, that it's not good for the baby, etc. What about what's good for the mother? I hope this pain of childbirth thing doesn't take off like the breast feeding thing did.
Exactly, what about what is best for the mother? A mothers choices for her and her child should not be placed under a microscope and condemned. I hope the pain of childbirth concept doesnt take off too. But hopefully it wont, women who have had children will probably keep this guy in his place (I would hope so).
Oh and I apologize for all the cruel people out there who gave your mother a hard time for her choices.
I was surprised, however, to find that according to a midwife, pain during childbirth is a GREAT thing. In fact, Dr. Denis Walsh takes on a 'no pain, no gain' attitude.
Actually, that's not Dr. Walsh's position.
His concern is that epidurals are being used in circumstances where they may not be neccessary as other pain relief methods may be available. He is not advocating the abandonment of epidural use, nor is he advocating there be no pain relief during childbirth.
The BBC has an acticle that better explains Dr. Walsh's position than the tabloid rags do. There is also audio of an interview with him on that page.
There's also an implication here that fathers can't bond with their new babies because they don't go through the pain of child birth.